Conference unifix::sailing

    The only encouters of note with wildlife have been primarily with
    dolphins in tropical waters.  Nothing of note while sailing in New
    England.   
    
    - In the Virgin Islands while sailing up the north side of Tortola, we
    had a Dolphin swim under our bow for several minutes.  Most facinating
    thing I have every seen on the water!  Really exciting.  It kept
    beautiful pace with the boat and switched back and forth from bow wave to 
    bow wave.  
    
    - Again while chartering we saw several sea turtles on top of the water
    which sort of glared at us as we sailed past.  I know turtles aren't
    mammals but it was still neat to see.    
    
    - On the way from St. Croix to Bermuda this spring we had several
    dolphins swim along with us at night.  This happened two nights in a
    row.  The first night there were only a few but the second night there
    were at least a dozen or more.  It was hard to tell since they did not
    show up well in the moonlight.  It was late, between 1100 and 0100.  We
    were still 4-500 miles from Bermuda close to nowhere.  You could hear 
    them blowing through their blow holes all around us though.  It was a 
    little unnerving at first since I wasn't expecting to hear anything 
    other than the wind and the water against the hull.  I only wish I could 
    have seen them more clearly.    
    
    Brian

    
    Some five years ago we had a group of about five or six dolphins
    travel with us for three days during a trip from France to Ireland.
    They came within 1 meter of the boat while we were sailing but kept
    their distance during the short periods we had the motor on.
    
    When we got within about 15 miles of the Irish coastline they headed
    off on their own business, this was lucky as we ran into several
    unmarked fishing nets during the last part of our trip.
    
    Aedan.

    Once, in the South Atlantic, a large group of dolphins
    cavorted in our bow wave and those of several other
    nearby racers for an entire afternoon.  Their aspect seemed
    completely open and playful.  Just before dusk, they
    made a fabulous leap, several dozen as if one, and 
    were gone.  Few partings are more poingnant, and none 
    aboard would deny their sense of fairwell.
    
    On several occaisions in New England waters, we've met
    whales, dolphins, and sharks.  Once, in the pitch of night
    on an overcast night, we heard and smelled a whale without 
    seeing a thing.  On other occasions, we've seen them sound 
    as we ghosted by, leaving only a turbulant eddy.  One night,
    one of our crew saw two luminous red eyes gliding leisurely 
    towards the boat, and as they drew close she made out a 
    large dorsal fin and tail fin some dozen feet back gently 
    stroking the water.  
    
    Way out in the gulf of Mexico I once saw a single red light
    moving over the water at quite a clip.  As it drew close
    to the ship I was on, it began to sink into the water and
    disappeared at a range of 50 yards.

Better known as "dolphins."  We caught and ate real "dolphin" (a tropical 
sport fish with a snub-nosed head that is delicious) in the Bahamas.  People
are horrified when I say this 'til I explain the difference.   

When we went down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) we met our first traveling 
companion in South Carolina.  That one followed us, for the most part, but 
we've had lots ride in our bow wake (it pushes them along) down along the keys.
We usually only saw them when we were under motor--they don't mind motors as 
far as I can tell.    

We were in our dinghy off Key West (by Hawk Channel) once and a pod came 
within 200 feet or so. The offspring came right by our side and turned over on 
theirs to get a good eyeballfull of us.  The adults came by and warned them 
away from us, alas.  

I've seen two bulls running together out towards the Gulf of Mexico (from
Key West Harbor) and they were HUGE.  I guess dolphins don't know their own
strength, so it's not a good idea to be in the water with them. 

There's a place in the upper keys where you can pay $50 to swim with a dolphin,
but they're booked solid all the time.  I think the place is in Key Largo.

We're coastal sailors, for the most part, so we've never been far out enough
to see a whale, or notice one.  I heard that the couple whose boat was sunk
by a pod of killer whales in the South Pacific had followed the pod for a while
before being attacked.  I suppose it's not a good idea to follow a pod of killer
whales!

>>>  We're coastal sailors, for the most part, so we've never been far out
>>>  enough to see a whale, or notice one.  

I've seen an occasional whale inside the Rockport Breakwater (in the 
middle of Sandy Bay, not the harbor!), and twice have seen finbacks within 
a quarter mile of Folly Point at the north end of Cape Ann.  When hungry, 
they seem to follow their food; sometimes they apparently follow the blues 
in, looking for lunch.  So don't despair of seeing one inshore.

J.

    RE .5
    
    Yeah, the first time I ever spotted a whale was from standing on the
    rocks at Halibut Point (I used to live in Rockport).  It was the most
    amazing thing to see something that big that close to shore.  Also,
    they're frequently visible from the sand dunes at Race Point (P'Town).
    
    ... Bob
    

    I also used to live in Rockport, well, Summers, anyway.  Once I decided
    to see how far out I could go in my 12' Firefly.  Pigeon Hill was still
    above the horizon, but not much else when a whale came within hailing
    distance.  It was at that point that I decided to come about and head
    for the Harbor.  My boat had suddenly begun to shrink.
    
    Another time, I was sailing the Firefly down the Sheepscott in the fog
    when I kept hearing this unfamiliar sound close astern.  Every time I
    looked back, there was nothing to see and I was getting a bit spooked
    until the porpoise blew close abeam and I realized it was not some
    phantom Portland packet about to send me to the bottom.
    

    The grounding and deaths of the pilot whales off Cape Cod on Dec. 12
    got me thinking.  One of the people interviewed claimed that if more
    people had showed up to help, more whales could have been saved.
    
    Today, I looked for a notes conference on whales to see if maybe there
    were local people in DEC who could have been rallied for quick
    response.  Strangely, I couldn't find a conference.
    
    Does anyone know of a notes conference or employee organization that
    might be appropriate?
    

    LDP::OCEANOGRAPHY    is full of wales stories
    
    
    Peter

Hi,

>    The grounding and deaths of the pilot whales off Cape Cod on Dec. 12
>    got me thinking.  One of the people interviewed claimed that if more
>    people had showed up to help, more whales could have been saved.

What actually happened there on the 12th? I'm in Ireland so I did'nt get to
hear anything about it.

Thanks,

	Aedan.

    55 pilot whales beached themselves on a small island off Cape Cod. 
    Nine were rescued by people putting them in slings and actually
    carrying them back into the water and waiting with them until the tide
    came back in.  About four years ago the same thing happened with about
    75 pilot whales.  A lot of theories on why this happens (astronomical
    high tide, pollution, whale viruses, etc.) but nothing concrete.

    On the way back from Halifax this weekend collectively we saw all sorts
    of things.  There were reportedly several basking sharks spotted both
    up and back though I never saw one.  We did see several dozen dolphins
    cavorting about and a couple of large tuna leapt out of the water about
    50 yards from our boat.  This was about 40 miles from Boston and there 
    were several sport fishing boats out hunting those pups I bet.  The
    real thriller for me was the two whales breaching in front of us.  I
    managed to get a shot (photo) of them as they sounded.  Both tails were
    out of the water at the same time in the same position, really a
    beautiful sight!  
    
    Brian

    Can anyone advise on the best locations for high probability encounters
    with whales in New England?   Everyone talks about Stellwagen, is it
    sufficient to just sail to this location on my chart, or is there more
    to it.  Are there other locations that are productive?
    
    Thanx for the info.
    
    Gary

    Sail to P-town.  Follow your chart from there toward the Stellwagen
    Bank until your depthsounder goes from 300' to 60' (as I remember). 
    You will see a lot of whale watch boats.  You'll also see a lot of
    whales if you have any kind of luck at all. 

    
    We did the Gloucester-Ptown crossing a total of 3 times last year, and
    saw whales on each occasion. 

    thanx for advice on Glou-PTown crossing...and getting to Stellwagen
    ..that is in our plans for late August.  I was also wondering if
    the north shore has any near-by alternatives....we are in Newburyport.
    
    Gary

Whales can be anywhere; Stellwagen Bank is just the most likely place, 
since the food they prefer (this is stock-up time for the commute south in 
a couple months) grows there in greatest abundance.  A few times I've seen 
finbacks while munching on fresh fish at the Lobster Pool Restaurant in 
Folly Cove, Gloucester.  The humpbacks, which can be more spectacular in 
their behavior, tend to stay more offshore, and can be seen almost 
anywhere as the season progresses and Stellwagen's feedstocks are 
depleted.

When looking for Stellwagen, a couple of other hints besides following the 
chart:

- The Gloucester whalewatching boats use VHF Channel 18 (at least a few 
  years ago they did); I used to listen in for tips on what they were 
  seeing.

- Tuna like the same little fishes whales like, so sometimes it's easier 
   to spot the immense tuna fleet on Stellwagen than the whalewatchers, 
   especially if you're out there when the whalewatchers are between runs. 

One caveat:  There are now some rather strict rules about observing whales 
which apply to all boaters.  Getting too close and/or bothering them are 
punishable by uncomfortably large federal fines.  It is enforced; one case
I recall was an outboard board, reported by a whalewatching skipper just
arriving.  The most important thing is to give the whales some space, keep
a hundred yards away (or something like that; the Coast Guard can tell you
what the specified distance is) and enjoy the show.  Having been
inadvertantly *much* closer (i.e., totally soaked by a breeching) years
ago before these rules, I can say that too close is definitely too close. 
To get really close, take one of the whalewatching cruises, since they 
usually have federally registered observers on board, and since the whales 
know them by sound and/or sight, the whales frequently do the approaching
on their own, which is perfectly legal as well as amazing. 

J.

    Isn't there another rule which says that your course must never be
    towards the whale? That you must be sailing parallel or away from it?
    
    Gregg

While vacationing on Mt Desert this year we took our first whale watch out of 
Bar Harbor. For several days prior we had been hearing reports of a humpback
coming inside the breakwater along with a couple fo minkes. Sure enough, just a 
we  cleared the harbor, there he/she was. It did just as the naturalist 
predicted, surfacing for a blow 4 to 5 times followed by a nice show of
tail flukes and a dive. After about 20 minutes, with the competition's boat
approaching, our captain started to turn back to our original course. The 
naturalist warned us to keep a sharp eye on the last known position since 
after several dives, it might breach. usually in 30  or 40 seconds. After 
about a minute I lowered my camera only to have just about every other 
person aboard give a holler. 

Now I have seen a number of whale specials on TV, But to look up and see this 
45-50 foot creature COMPLETELY OUT OF WATER, do a 1/4 'gainer' and land on 
its side was something to be seen. And then it did it again.

Though we saw only the one humpback, we saw several fin backs and more that 
6 minkes. Saw so many harbor porpise that the naturalist stopped pointing then
out.

    We were on our way back from an overnighter last weekend when we ran
    into 2 humpbacks that were obviously feeding.
    
    It was amazing !  Normally wer only see Minkes here so when we saw the
    spouts of water we went to investigate.  Both of the whales were
    synchronized ( although the only shot of 2 tails was exactly at the
    time that the film was changed.).  One of the whales was concentating
    so much on dinner that he missed our approach.  What a surprise he got 
    ...... as did the guy on my bow (he got splashed) as the whale "crash
    dived" to get away from us.
    
    We spent 2 hours going with these 2, they were great.  We were well
    within 5 feet of them often and they were close under the keel quite a
    few times as well. 
    
    A nasty old stink-pot came along and the whales decided that if they
    were in the kind of water that is frequented by those types that they
    should move off ... so they did.
    
    We seem to have some squid here this year which should mean that we
    will get lots of whales, porpoises and some big  bluefins.  Now, if we
    could only get the weather to go with them !

    We saw several whales early aft Aug 22 about 60 nm N of Race Point. 
    They swam with us for awhile, even appearing to dive under our boat. 
    Sadly, but fortunately, they kept their distance.
    
    Re note 847, cameras do seem to scare them off ...
    
    -gayn
    

[restored by the Moderator]

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Note 1581.22                    whales and sails                        22 of 22
STEREO::HO                                           14 lines  30-JUN-1992 09:17
                           -< Whales off Marblehead >-
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    Three whales or similar objects sighted about .5 miles SE of Tinkers
    Gong near Marblehead on Saturday.  
    
    First they looked like rocks, which were known to not exist in that
    area.  Impossible, must be a motorboat I said.  When I glanced again
    they turned perpendicular to our course, swiming in that characteristic
    manner that whales are wont to do and dived down out of sight.
    
    There were over 30 boats around us at the time but I couldn't get a
    confirmation from anyone afterwards.  
    
    - gene 
    
    

    I was sailing at Old Orchard Beach Me this past weekend. In very light airs,
    we rounded A mark (windward) and started toward C (leeward). Because
    of the light airs, we got off the trampoline and sat on the bows of 
    boat to make the stern ride high (old multihull trick for extra speed). 
    
    About a 1/4 mile later, I spotted something coming right at us under the 
    boat and it was moving a LOT faster than us ghosting along!  Something big,
    black and with lots of baricles on top. Don't know what kind of Whale
    it was. I turned and shouted to the folks behind us who also saw it.
    Then it started wiggling the tip of one of it's flukes.
    
    real impressive!
    
    john